7月16日午间英语新闻：考场天花板太高或影响学生考试成绩？

> High ceilings in buildings linked to poorer exam results for students
研究：考场天花板太高或影响学生考试成绩

New research has found a link between the height of ceilings in exam halls and the performance of students, which might sound a bit crazy, but makes more and more sense as you think about it.

新研究发现，考试大厅的天花板高度与学生的考试成绩之间存在联系，这看起来有些不可思议，但仔细想想却很有道理。

While the shape of a room can't compensate for your lack of revision or make you any smarter than you were before, we do know that the environments we're in have an effect on us. That includes our ability to concentrate and work on mental tasks.

虽然房间的形状不能弥补复习不足或提高智商，但我们知道，环境确实对我们有影响，包括我们的专注力和处理脑力任务的能力。

The authors of the study, from the University of South Australia and Deakin University in Australia, suggest that big and open rooms, with high ceilings, are making it harder for students to focus on what's in front of them.
这项由南澳大学和迪肯大学的研究人员开展的研究表明，大而空旷的房间、高高的天花板会让学生更难集中注意力。

A previous study from some of the same researchers, making use of brain mapping technology and virtual reality, had found a relationship between cognitive ability and the perceived size of a person's surroundings. Here, the team wanted to do some real-world testing.
此前，同一研究团队的一项研究利用脑图技术和虚拟现实发现了认知能力与人们感知到的周围环境大小之间的关系。这次，团队希望进行一些现实世界的测试。

"We were curious to apply our lab findings to a real-world dataset and see if being in a large space like a gymnasium while having to concentrate on an important task would result in a poorer performance," says environmental psychologist Isabella Bower from the University of South Australia.
南澳大学的环境心理学家伊莎贝拉·鲍尔表示：“我们好奇将实验室的发现应用到现实世界的数据集中，看看在一个像体育馆这样的大空间中专注于重要任务是否会导致表现较差。”

The study analyzed exam results from 15,400 students over eight years and across three campuses, referencing their scores against what was expected based on the coursework they'd previously submitted.
研究分析了8年间三个校区15400名学生的考试成绩，并将这些成绩与基于他们之前提交的课程作业得出的预期分数进行对比。

In exam rooms with elevated ceilings, students tended to underperform compared to those taking exams in rooms with a 'standard' ceiling height, even after accounting for age, gender, time of year, exam subject, and prior exam experience – other factors that could potentially affect the results.
结果发现，在天花板较高的考试房间里，学生的表现往往不如在“标准”高度天花板房间里的学生，即使考虑了年龄、性别、考试时间、考试科目和之前的考试经验等可能影响成绩的因素。

However, what we can't yet be sure about is whether the actual dimensions of the room are having an effect, or whether it's something else related to the environment – like the temperature or humidity inside the space, or even how many other students there are.
然而，我们尚不能确定是否房间的实际尺寸在起作用，还是与环境有关的其他因素，比如空间内的温度或湿度，甚至是房间内其他学生的数量。

"These spaces are often designed for purposes other than examinations, such as gymnasiums, exhibitions, events, and performances," says Bower.
鲍尔说：“这些空间通常是为体育馆、展览、活动和表演等用途设计的，而不是专门为考试设计的。”

"The key point is that large rooms with high ceilings seem to disadvantage students and we need to understand what brain mechanisms are at play, and whether this affects all students to the same degree."
“关键是大房间和高天花板似乎让学生处于不利地位，我们需要了解其中的脑机制，以及这是否对所有学生都有同样的影响。”

Those are questions that future research can try to find out. It's clear though that environment matters – and that we might not be giving students the best chance for success by holding exams in rooms that aren't custom-built for the purpose.
这些问题需要未来的研究来解答。不过很明显，环境很重要——如果我们不在专门为考试设计的房间里举行考试，我们可能没有给学生提供最好的成功机会。

"Examinations have been a key part of our education system for over 1,300 years, shaping students' career paths and lives," says educational psychologist Jaclyn Broadbent from Deakin University.
迪肯大学的教育心理学家杰克林·布罗德本特说：“考试在我们的教育体系中已有1300多年的历史。考试塑造了学生的职业道路和人生，是教育体系的关键部分。”

"It's crucial to recognise the potential impact of the physical environment on student performance and make necessary adjustments to ensure all students have an equal opportunity to succeed."
“认识到物理环境对学生表现的潜在影响并做出必要的调整，以确保所有学生都有平等的成功机会，这是至关重要的。”

The research has been published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology.
该研究发表在《环境心理学期刊》上。

重点词汇：
1、compensate
英/ ˈkɒmpenseɪt /                                                        
美/ ˈkɑːmpenseɪt /                                                        
v.赔偿，偿付；弥补，补偿；抵消；酬报（某人）

2、perceive
英/ pəˈsiːv /                                                        
美/ pərˈsiːv /                                                        
vt.认为，理解；察觉，注意到；意识到

3、dimension
英/ daɪˈmenʃ(ə)n /                                                        
美/ daɪˈmenʃn; dɪˈmenʃn /                                                        
n.大小，尺寸；（空间的）维度；范围，规模；方面，部分

> Word of the day丨two-dimensional crystals
每日一词| 二维晶体

Chinese researchers have created a novel method to produce crystals to greatly improve the controllability of their structures, according to a research article published in Science on July 5. The researchers have applied this new method to produce seven types of two-dimensional crystals.
中国科研团队首创一种全新的晶体制备方法，极大提高了晶体结构可控性。团队现已制备出7种二维晶体。这一突破性成果于7月5日发表于《科学》杂志。

【知识点】
晶体是现代计算机、通信、航空、激光技术等领域不可或缺的关键材料。传统制备大尺寸晶体的方法，通常是在晶体小颗粒表面“自下而上”层层堆砌原子，好像“盖房子”，从地基逐层“砌砖”，最终搭建成“屋”。

北京大学科研团队在国际上首创出一种全新的晶体制备方法，让材料如“顶着上方结构往上走”的“顶竹笋”一般生长，可保证每层晶体结构的快速生长和均一排布，极大提高了晶体结构的可控性。这种“长材料”的新方法有望提升芯片的集成度和算力，为新一代电子和光子集成电路提供新的材料。

实验证明，这种“长材料”的独特方法可使晶体层架构速度达到每分钟50层，层数最高达1.5万层，且每层的原子排布完全平行、精确可控，有效避免了缺陷积累，提高了结构可控性。

利用此新方法，团队现已制备出硫化钼、硒化钼、硫化钨等7种高质量的二维晶体，这些晶体的单层厚度仅为0.7纳米，而目前使用的硅材料多为5到10纳米。